Combined trench hoe and crusher ball machine



L. A. LONGLEY 3,155,328

COMBINED TRENCH HOE AND CRUSHER BALL MACHINE Nov. 3, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 12, 1963 INVENTOR- LESTER A. LONGLEY W .lIllllllllllllllllllllllllllll lllllllllll A TTORNE Y Nov. 3, 1964 L. A. LONGLEY 3,155,328

COMBINED TRENCH HOE AND CRUSHER BALL MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 12, 1963 lniil FIG. 3

INVENTOR. LESTER A. LONGLEY A TTORNE Y United States Patent 3,155,328 COMBENED TRENCH HOE AND CRUSHER BALL MACHINE 'Lester A. Langley, Las Vegas, Nev., assignor to Langley This invention relates to improvements in excavating machines of the so-called trench hoe type. More particularly, the invention resides in a combination trench hoe and crusher ball machine and in the provisoin of a boom or jib attachment and crusher ball means for an otherwise conventional trench hoe, enabling the machine to selectively perform digging and crushing operations without the necessity for employing separate machines or cranes for each operation and with the trenching shovel and its boom contributing significantly to the successful operation of the crusher ball means and vice versa.

In the laying of pipe lines and the like in certain areas, the necessity arises for excavating trenches in soil containing rock, shale, limestone and cemented gravel deposits. Accordingly, it has been necessary and customary to utilize separate trench hoe machines and ball crusher machines in order to complete the trench excavations. The use of a separate twenty ton crane to handle a 10,000 pound steel ball for crushing and fracturing rock and other hard material preparatory to digging has been necessary. This additional and separate crane works in conjunction with a conventional trench hoe machine and entails an added expenditure of about $35,000 for the equipment plus the wages of an additional operator to handle it. This results in additional daily operational costs of about $150. Moreover, there is difficulty in obtaining proper alignment of the individual operations with respect to the work being done. In connection With an excavating business which may use ten back-hoes at a given time, it would be necessary to empioy ten additional machines or cranes in conjunction therewith to perform the required crushing operations. Consequently, a combined machine capable of efiiciently performing the crushing and digging operations of two separate machines will obviously effect great economies and will also greatly improve the speed and efliciency of the overall trench digging operation and these are the main objects of the present invention.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combined machine for digging and crushing which is simplitied in construction, relatively economical to build with minimum modification of the basic trench hoe machine and easy to operate.

Another object is to provide a simplified and sturdy and reliable ball crusher attachment for a conventional trench hoe which may be easily applied to existing trench hoes or incorporated in new machines at the time of manufacturing thereof.

Another object is to provide a combination machine of the mentioned type, wherein the crusher ball lifting cable means may be operated selectively with the trench hoe stick or boom through the medium of the usual winch or hoist provided on the trench hoe machine, and wherein apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

3,155,323 Fatented Nov. 3, 1964 "ice FlGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a combined trench hoe and crusher machine embodying the invention and illustrating the arrangement of machine components when the crusher ball is in use,

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section taken on line 2-2 of FEGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the machine showing the disposition of parts when the crusher attachment is idle and the digging mechanism is in use.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 10 designates a crawler type, track-laying base, having a cab 11 swiveled thereon in the usual manner and, together, constituting a mobile support for combined trench hoe and crusher ball mechanism.

A trench hoe boom or stick 12 has one end thereof pivoted at 13 to the forward end and bottom of the cab, in the usual manner, and its opposite or forward end pivoted at 14 to a vertically swingable arm structure 15 which extends above and below the pivot 14. The trench hoe bucket mechanism comprises a bucket 16, pivoted at 17 to the lower end of a supporting arm 15, and a link or brace 13 extending diagonally between the arm 15 and bucket and having its ends pivotally interconnecting these elements in a well-known manner. A sheave carrier link 19 is pivoted at 20 to the top of arm 15 above the pivot 14 and carries the usual sheave or pulley 21, as shown. A draw cable 22 engages sheave 21 and also engages another sheave 23 mounted above the forward upper corner of the cab and supported on a suitable upstanding trame 24 anchored to the cab at its bottom in a well-known manner, The frame 24 is braced by upper inclined bars 25 having their rear ends anchored to the top of the cab near the rear thereof. Another free turning sheave 26 is mounted on top of the cab 11 adjacent the rear ends of the brace bars 25. The cable means 22 is connected with a conventional winch means 27 mounted within the cab 11 and a further cable extension 28 leads from this winch means over another sheave 29 on the boom 12 and around a sheave or pulley 30 secured to the bucket 16. All of the structure thus far recited is that or" a conventional trench hoe and well-known in the art and the trench hoe structure and its mode of operation for excavating trenches and the like, being conventional, need not be described or illustrated in further detail herein.

The invention attachment for the conventional trench hoe comprises an elongated upwardly and forwardly inclined boom or jib 31 carrying a cable sheave 32 at its upper leading end. The bottom of the jib 31 is anchored at 33 to a sturdy bracket 34 added to and rigidly mounted upon the rear horizontal portion of trench hoe boom 12. This bracket 34 carries a ring or eye 35 for a purpose to be described. The jib 31 is advantageously bifurcated at its lower end, as indicated at 31a. in the drawings, so as to straddle the operating cables 22 of the trench hoe. It is further supported intermediate its ends by a substantially vertical brace structure including a pair of laterally spaced struts 35 which straddle the cable means 22 so as not to interfere with the normal operation thereof. The tops of the struts 36 are pivoted at 37 to a cross bracket 38, rigidly secured to the lower inclined face of jib 31 substantially midway between its end with a conventional swivel 43 adapted for attach- 3 merit releasably with an eye 44 of a crusher ball or weight 45, such as a 10,000 pound cast steel crucher ball. The hook attaching element of swivel 43 is also adapted to be connected with the eye 55 of bracket 34%, FIGURE 3, when the crusher ball is not being used and in this case a portion of the cable 42 lies close to the underside of the jib 31, as shown. When so located, the cable 42 is trained under the anchor sheave 41, FIGURE 3, and then passes upwardly and over the sheave means 23 and then reanwardly to the sheave means 26 where the cable 42 leads to another conventional winch or winding device, not shown, within the cab 11, such winding device being a standard component of the conventional trench hoe machine. The disposition of the cable 42 un der the anchoring sheave 41 in FIGURE 3 is to remove slack from the hoisting cable 42 when the same is inactive so as not to interfere with the operation of the remaining cable means for the trench hoe machine. Theanchoring sheave 41 being very close to the .pivot 13 of trench hoe boom 12 allows normal movement of such boom without materially slackening or tensioning the idle cable 42.

With the cable 42 arranged as shown in FIGURE 3 and the crusher ball 45 laid aside on the ground, the trench hoe machine is operated by the winch 27 and cable means 22 and 28 in a conventional manner for digging a trench or the like, with the added advantage, however, of the weight of the attached crusher ball operating structure serving to help the trench hoe bucket to penetrate and dig into the ground.

When hard ground, rock or the like is encountered and must be crushed and fractured prior to further digging, the trench hoe bucket 16 is positioned so that it rests upon the ground, as shown in FIGURE 1, with its supporting arm 15 acting as a strut to stabilize the boom 12 and the entire machine and to provide support for the heavy crusher ball 45. The hoisting cable 42 is then released from its engagement under the sheave 41 and the connection of the hoisting cable with the eye 35 is also released and the cable 42 will assume the position shown in FIGURE 1 where it engages only the sheave means 32 and 26 and is under control of its own separate winch within the cab below the sheave means 26. The swivel 43 is now attached to the ball 45, FIGURE 1, and the cable 42 is repeatedly wound in and then released to repeatedly drop the crusher ball for crushing and breaking the hard material. When this operation is completed, the ball 45 is again laid aside and the cable 42 is returned to the inactive position shown in FIGURE 3, again allowing operation of the trench hoe mechanism without any interference or tangling with the crusher attachment.

It is now apparent that the invention furnishes a combined machine which may be used selectively for the peraticns of crushing and digging and without any material alteration of the machine when changing from one operation to the other. The need for separate machines for the two operations is entirely eliminated and the overall operation of excavating a trench or the like is rendered not only more economical but more efficient and much more rapid. The crusher ball attachment is sturdy and relatively inexpensive and can be readily installed on any conventional trench hoe machine. It provides no problem of operation for anyone who is familiar with the i use of a conventional trench hoe. .Not only do the bucke and its supporting arm function as a supporting strut during operation of the crusher ball, but they serv to accurately align the machine with the work to be don by the crusher ball. Thus, the trencher components cooperate'with the crusher ball components in operation of the latter on the Work involved.

The conventional controls of the machine are not shown in the drawings and need not be described herein because they are well-known to those skilled in the art. The component parts which form the inventive subject matter are all shown in the drawings and have been fully described.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. An excavating machine, comprising a mobile support; power-operated trench hoe mechanism mounted upon said support and operable to excavate a trench; crusher ball hoist means carried by said sup-port and 0perable selectively arid independently of the trench hoe mechanism for elevating and dropping a crusher ball to crush hard material in advance of the trench hoe mechanism so that the latter is capable of excavating said trench, said trench hoe mechanism including a boom and bucket mechanism pivotally carried by the boom and adapted to rest on the ground as a supporting strut therefor, and means on the boom supporting the crusher ball hoist means, said hoist means extending beyond said bucket mechanism in the supporting strut position thereof.

2. An excavating machine, comprising a mobile support; a trench hoe boom mounted on and extending from said support; trench hoe bucket mechanism pivotally connected to said boom and adapted to rest on the ground as a supporting strut therefor when not in trenching use; operating means for said trench hoe boom and bucket mechanism; a jib mounted on and carried by said boom and extending beyond said bucket mechanism in the supporting strut position thereof; means on said boom for supporting said jib; and cable means associated with said jib for operating a crusher ball over the extending end thereof.

3. The machine of claim 2, additionally including means on the machine for releasably holding the cable means closely to the boom and jib when a crusher ball is not being used.

4. The machine of claim 3, wherein the holding means comprises a sheave on the mobile support adjacent to the mounting of the boom thereon, and cable-securing means adjacent to the lower end of the jib.

5. An excavating machine, comprising a mobile support; a trench hoe boom mounted on and extending from said support; trench hoe bucket mechanism pivotally connected to said boom and adapted to rest on the ground as a supporting strut therefor when not in trenching use; crusher ball hoist means carried by said support and extending beyond the trench hoe bucket mechanism in the supporting strut position thereof; means on said boom for supporting said hoist means; cable operating means f r the bucket mechanism; and cable operating means for the crusher ball hoistmeans.

'6. The machine of claim 5, wherein the crusher ball hoist means includes a jib having one end fastened to the trench hoe boom and extending beyond the trench hoe bucket mechanism in the supporting strut position thereof; the means on said boom for supporting the hoist means is a strut; and both the jib and the strut are provided with openings for accommodating the cable operating means for the bucket mechanism.

7. A crusher ball hoist attachment for a trench hoe type of excavating machine equipped with a trench hoe boom, with trench hoe bucket mechanism operably attached to one end of the boom, and with cable operating means for the bucket mechanism, said attachment comprising a jib; a mounting bracket secured to one end of the jib and adapted to be removably fastened to the trench hoe boom; a cable sheave at the opposite end of the jib; a strut depending from the jib between the ends thereof; and a mounting bracket secured to the lower end of the strut and adapted to be removably fastened to the trench hoe boom at a location spaced apart from the first-named mounting bracket along the length of the boom.

8. The crusher ball hoist attachment of claim 7, wherein both the jib and the strut are provided with openings for accommodating the cable of the cable operating means of the excavating machine.

9. An excavating machine, comprising a mobile sup port; a trench hoe mounted upon said support and including a trench hoe boom, trench hoe bucket mechanism pivotally connected thereto, and cable operating means therefor; a jib bodily mounted upon the trench hoe boom and extending thereabove and forwardly thereof; a sheave on said jib near the top thereof; another sheave on said support rearwardly of said boom and jib; cable operating means including a cable engaging said sheaves; a crusher ball releasably attachable to said cable; and means on said support and said trench hoe boom vfor releasably holding said cable in an inactive position after detachment of the crusher ball therefrom and allowing normal usage of said trench hoe mechanism.

10. A combined trench hoe and crusher machine; comprising a mobile support having first and second cable winding means; a trench hoe boom and trench hoe bucket mechanism on said support; first cable operating means for said boom and bucket engaging said first winding means; an upwardly and forwardly inclined jib on said boom extending above and forwardly thereof and having a sheave; another sheave on said support rearwardly of said boom and jib; a ball-hoisting cable engageable with said sheaves and connected with the second winding means and adapted for connection with a crusher ball; bracket means on said boom attachable to the free end of said hoisting cable to stow a portion of the hoisting cable beneath and along said jib when said crusher ball is idle; and an anchoring sheave near the pivot of the trench hoe boom, beneath which the hoisting cable is placed to remove slack therefrom and to allow free operation of the trench hoe boom and bucket when the crusher ball is idle.

11. An excavating machine, comprising a mobile sup- :port; ,a trench hoe boom and bucket pivoted to said support; cable operating means for said boom and bucket above said boom and its pivotal connection with the support, a bifurcated jib on said boom, extending above and forwardly thereof and straddling said cable operating means; a substantially upright, bifurcated brace interconnecting said jib and boom intermediate the ends of the jib near the forward end of the boom and straddling said cable operating means; a sheave carried by said jib; another sheave on said support rearrwardly of said boom and jib; and a crusher ball hoisting cable engaging said sheaves and operable to raise and lower a crusher ball.

12. The invention defined by claim 11, including independent hoisting means on said support for the first and second named cable means.

13. An excavating machine, comprising a mobile support; a trench hoe boom pivoted to said support and extending forwardly thereof; trench hoe bucket mechanism on said boom; overhead cable operating means for said boom and bucket mechanism and extending longitudinally of the boom; an upwardly and forwardly extending jib on said boom, connected therewith intermediate the ends of the boom and extending above and forwardly thereof, said jib having its lower end bifurcated to straddle said cable means; a bifurcated brace for said jib interconnecting the same with said boom and straddling the cable means; a sheave on said jib near the top thereof; another sheave on said support rear wardly of said jib and boom; an anchor element near and above the pivot of said boom; a hoisting cable engaging said sheaves and adapted to be wound in and payed out and having a free end adapted for connection releasably with a crusher ball; and a connecting element on said boom beneath said jib vfor attachment to the free end of the hoisting cable when the same is disconnected from the ball, said hoisting cable then being passed beneath said anchor element close to said pivot to take up the slack in the hoisting cable and to allow free manipulation of said boom and bucket mechanism.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,485,362 10/49 Coryer 241-273 X 2,647,331 8/53 Brngger 37117.5 X 2,713,218 7/55 Dyer 37-'ll7.5 2,767,868 10/56 Wagner et al 214 I SPENCER OVERHOLSER, Primary Examiner. 

1. AN EXCAVATING MACHINE, COMPRISING A MOBILE SUPPORT; POWER-OPERATED TRENCH HOE MECHANISM MOUNTED UPON SAID SUPPORT AND OPERABLE TO EXCAVATE A TRENCH, CRUSHER BALL HOIST MEANS CARRIED BY SAID SUPPORT AND OPERABLE SELECTIVELY AND INDEPENDENTLY OF THE TRENCH HOE MECHANISM FOR ELEVATING AND DROPPING A CRUSHER BALL TO CRUSH HARD MATERIAL IN ADVANCE OF THE TRENCH HOE MECHANISM SO THAT THE LATTER IS CAPABLE OF EXCAVATING SAID TRENCH, SAID TRENCH HOE MECHANISM INCLUDING A BOOM AND BUCKET MECHANISM PIVOTALLY CARRIED BY THE BOOM AND ADAPTED TO REST ON THE GROUND AS A SUPPORTING STRUT THEREFOR, AND MEANS ON THE BOOM SUPPORTING THE CRUSHER BALL 